Labour needs to start membership talks with the EU immediately rather than waste more time trying to fix Brexit, the Rejoin EU Party says.
Rejoin EU welcomes Andy Burnham’s comments in Parliament on Monday in which he said sticking with the status quo and failing to revisit Britain’s relationship with the EU would be inadequate and a “dereliction of duty”.
However, simply renegotiating parts of the UK’s thin trade deal with the EU won’t scratch the surface of the problems caused by Brexit.
Labour shouldn’t waste any more time considering so-called “halfway-house” options as a long-term solution for Britain’s future EU relationship because they won’t work politically or provide the economic boost the nation badly needs, Rejoin EU says.
In short, Labour needs to start talks to rejoin now and seek substantive access to the EU’s single market and other appropriate economic and political structures and programmes in the meantime.
Former MEP and Rejoin EU Party candidate in this summer’s Clacton by-election, John Stevens, said: “Rejoining is the only politically sustainable long-term option available to the government because any other – such as just rejoining the single market and/or customs union – would leave the UK as a rule-taker.”
Rejoin EU Party leader and former MEP Brendan Donnelly said: “Labour needs to start immediate and substantive reaccession talks with the EU now if it wants to maximise its chances of winning the next election.
“The party decided to replace one leader with another because it was floundering in the polls – now it can make a totally fresh start by ditching Starmer’s ‘red lines’ on the EU too.
“British negotiators could ask to rejoin, or request meaningful access to, structures such as the single market ASAP while laying the groundwork for full membership at the same time. The issue is urgent and there’s no time to waste.”
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Find out more by visiting https://therejoineuparty.com and following us on Twitter at @rejoinp and at https://www.facebook.com/RejoinEUParty
The Rejoin EU Party is campaigning to re-join the EU because we believe re-joining is the only way to solve the multiple problems Brexit has created. Brexit is broken and it’s breaking our country too. All the promises on which Brexit was sold to the electorate in 2016 were nonsense. Far from reducing red tape and providing £350m a week for the NHS, Brexit makes trading with the crucial European market more complex, difficult and expensive and threatens to reduce funding for public services. If you agree Brexit is making our country poorer, less tolerant and less united, join us and send a message to Westminster that you want your EU membership back, with all its freedoms and benefits.
Promoted by Brendan Donnelly for the Rejoin EU Party, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE.